Can You Live With Pets And A Pet Allergy
Depending on your level of sensitivity and the amount of allergen your pet produces, it may be possible to live with pets and pet allergies. Studies have shown infants exposed to animals have stronger immune systems.
Living with pets and pet allergies means staying on top of the allergen.
Vacuum and dust frequently while wearing a mask. Keep pets out of the bedroom. Run a HEPA filtered air cleaner that is the right size for the room. Groom pets with Allerpet Solution for either cats or dogs. If you have carpets, spray them regularly with a solution that will neutralize the protein. Allersearch ADMS and Ecology Works Antiallergen Solution are both easy to use.
It is possible to live with dogs and be allergic to cats and vice versa. Our daughter is allergic to cats and has had them all her life. Either way, if you have pets and you have allergies you need to learn to keep the allergen levels down.
Wishing you the best of health
The Allergy Store
Nothing To Sneeze At: Cats Worse Than Dogs For Allergies
30 May 2013
If you have pet allergies, chances are it is Fluffy rather than Fido that’s making you sneeze. While an estimated 10 percent of people are allergic to household pets, cat allergies are twice as common as dog allergies, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Among children, about one in seven between ages 6 and 19 prove to be allergic to cats.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not cat fur that causes those itchy, watery eyes. Most people with cat allergies react to a protein found on cat skin called Fel d 1.
The reason that cat allergies are more common has to do with the size and shape of the protein molecule, rather than how much dander the animal sheds, according to Mark Larché, an immunology professor at McMaster University in Ontario.
The protein enters the air on bits of cat hair and skin, and it is so small and light it’s about one-tenth the size of a dust allergen that it can stay airborne for hours. “Dog allergens don’t stay airborne the same way cat allergens do. The particle size is just right to breathe deep into your lungs,” Larché said.
The Fel d 1 protein is also incredibly sticky, readily glomming onto human skin and clothes and remaining there, making it ubiquitous in the environment. It has been found in places where there are no cats classrooms, doctors’ offices, even the Arctic, Larché said.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Pet Allergies
Allergens from your pets set up shop in the membranes lining your nose and eyes, and airborne particles can make their way into your lungs.
Allergic reactions typically occur within a short time after exposure to a pet and can include a number of uncomfortable symptoms such as:
- Hives and/or skin rash
- Itching and swelling of membranes.
- Inflamed, irritated eyes.
- Severe problems with breathing, including wheezing, shortness of breath and coughing
Coming into contact with a cat can cause asthma attacks in up to 30 percent of asthma sufferers, and cat allergies can result in chronic asthma. If you suffer from pet allergies, youre also more likely to develop sinusitis and other bacterial infections that affect the sinuses.
How To Manage Your Pet Allergies
If your allergist has confirmed you have a pet allergy, what can you do? Unfortunately, rehoming your pet is the best option. If thats what you decide, you will have to thoroughly clean the home. The pet dander can linger even after the pet has left.
For some people, getting rid of their pet is absolutely not an option. In those cases, try these methods:
- Undergo immunotherapy or take medication to relieve and lessen allergy symptoms.
- Make sure your pet is regularly brushed, but dont do this yourself.
- Get your pet bathed at least weekly to cut back on allergens like dander.
- Invest in an allergy filter for your air conditioner or heater and run it daily for four hours or more.
- If you snuggle up with your pet, put on a different outfit afterwards.
- If you are the one vacuuming up the house, always use a dust mask so you dont breathe in the dander and other pet allergens.
- Make sure you get your carpet steam-cleaned semi-often so dander cant linger.
- Contemplate ripping out your carpeting and getting hardwood flooring instead; its much easier to vacuum up pet dander this way.
- Have someone else regularly clean the pets toys, bed, scratching post and other items they like to use.
- Keep the pet off the couch and out of the bedroom.
How Do Pet Allergens Occur
Pet allergens are very light weight and small. They remain suspended in the air for a long time, much longer than allergens from cockroaches or dust mites. Because of their microscopic size and jagged shape, pet allergens easily stick to furniture, bedding, fabrics and many items carried into and out of the home. Animal dander is easily spread through the home and out to public places like schools and hospitals. 1 They can be found even in homes and buildings without pets. 1
What To Do If Your Dog Has An Allergic Reaction
There is also the possibility that your dog may develop yeast infections of the skin in the close presence of a feline friend.
If you observe any of the above, then there is a high likelihood that you need to visit your vet along with your dog and ask for a full-fledged allergy test.
In case your dog is identified to have a cat allergy, then you have to take certain steps immediately:
Wash your cat at least weekly. Doing so helps manage cat dander, which exacerbates allergic reactions in dogs.
Use a HEPA vacuum cleaner daily. Doing so will allow you to clean dander and cat hair from carpets, floors, draperies, furniture, and similar surfaces.
Purchase a good quality air purifier.
Ask your vet about treatment options
Can Dogs be Allergic to Cats? Signs & Treatment
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Pet Allergies: Symptoms Causes And What To Do
You love your pet like a member of the family, but what happens when your pet triggers your allergy symptoms? You want to keep living with your pet, but not if that means an itchy, runny nose, congestion, coughing and sneezing all the time. What do you do?
The good news is that its possible to get some relief from your pet allergy without giving up your beloved dog or cat. Its important to understand the causes and symptoms of pet allergies so you can work with an experienced allergist to develop a customized treatment plan.
If you believe you have a pet allergy, this is the article for you. In it, well go over the causes of pet allergies, as well as whether these can just appear one day out of the blue. Well also talk about symptoms and ways you can manage your pet allergies with the help of an allergist.
Allergy Cases Are On The Rise Among Pets With Animals Allergic To Dust Grass Polleneach Other
Sitting in the veterinarians office last summer with her dog Baloo, Beth Kingston braced for bad news. Just four years old, her Great Dane-black Labrador mix had been acting lethargic, with a runny nose and flaking skin. Worried it might be a deadly heart condition common to Great Danes, the vet ran a series of blood tests.
Baloos heart was fine, Thank God, Ms. Kingston says. But the lab resultswhich cost nearly $1,000were still full of surprises.
I saw the words feline and dander and said, Are you telling me my dog is allergic to cats? she recalls. Weve always been a two-dogs-and-a-cat family.
Indeed, the tests showed Baloo was allergic to cats, feathers, dust mites, seven types of grass and most of the pollen floating around their home near Annapolis, Md. I didnt even know that was possible, says Ms. Kingston, a crafting expert on the Home Shopping Network.
The Kingstons started giving Baloo weekly allergy shots at home. Improvement came within a month. Now hes just 150 pounds of pure handsomeness, Ms. Kingston says.
Keeping The Allergies Under Control
Recent advances in the treatment of human asthma are helping sick pets. We now do exactly what we do for infants and children, explains Dr Padrid, veterinarian for the Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago. Inhaled anti-inflammatory medication similar to human inhalers can be delivered to pets through an aerosol chamber with a facemask.
Some research in the field of human asthma has also been transferrable to felines. The work suggested in humans a link between bacterial infections and the worsening of asthmatic symptoms. The same bacteria were then later found in 1/5 of all lung fluid samples taken from asthmatic cats.
Like allergies in humans, affected pets tend to become more sensitive as time goes by. Today prognosis for the control of the disease is excellent, with most pets living happy and normal lives. Although there is no cure for allergies for now, medication such as allergy injections, antihistamines or even cortisone, can be used to sooth the symptoms of the disease.
But overall, the best way to keep your animal from developing the symptoms is identifying the allergens and making sure your pets stays as far away as possible from them, be they fleas or chicken wings.
REFERENCES
Do Cats Or Dogs Cause More Allergic Reactions
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, nearly a third of all Americans are allergic to cats or dogs, and among them, there are twice as many people who are allergic to cats than dogs. The results of an 18-year study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunologys national meeting in 2013 showed that people with asthma who were diagnosed with cat allergies had more than doubled during that period.
Cat allergies have little or nothing to do with the length or density of a cats coat, and everything to do with proteins found in cat dander, saliva, and urine. Several such proteins exist, but the ones most responsible for provoking cat-related allergies are Fel d 1 and Fel d 4. The first is a protein naturally occurring in a cats skin and produced by a cats sebaceous glands, which create the oils that coat a cats fur and skin. The second is a protein found in a cats saliva.
When You Should Contact Your Vet
If you suspect your dog may have a pet allergy, it best to schedule an appointment with your veterinarian. The cost of a vet visit can vary a lot depending on where you live and what treatment is necessary. If you wait until the condition gets worse, you could have an emergency vet visit. Your veterinarian will have to confirm that the symptoms your dog is experiencing are consistent with a feline allergy, not fleas or ticks, respiratory infections, insect bites, or conditions that have similar symptoms.
What Is The Best Treatment For Pet Allergy
The best treatment is to avoid contact with cats or dogs or the areas where they live. Keep pets out of your home. If possible, try to avoid visiting homes with pets that you are allergic to. Avoiding cats and dogs may give you enough relief that you will not need medicine.
Keeping the pet outdoors will help, but will not rid the house of pet allergens. Another option is to choose pets that do not have fur or feathers. Fish, snakes or turtles are some choices.
Pet allergy can be a social problem making it difficult to visit friends and relatives who have cats and dogs . This may be especially troublesome for children who cannot participate in activities at the home of friends. Talk to your doctor about possible use of medication before these social exposures and specific measures to take after the exposure.
What Causes A Pet Allergy
The job of the immune system is to find foreign substances, such as viruses and bacteria, and get rid of them. Normally, this response protects us from dangerous diseases. People with pet allergies have over-sensitive immune systems. They can react to harmless proteins in the pet’s urine, saliva or dander . The symptoms that result are an allergic reaction. The substances that cause allergic reactions are allergens.
Pet allergens can collect on furniture and other surfaces. The allergens will not lose their strength for a long time. Sometimes the allergens may remain at high levels for several months and cling to walls, furniture, clothing and other surfaces.
Pet hair is not an allergen. It can collect dander, urine and saliva. It also can carry other allergens like dust and pollen.
Cat and dog allergens are everywhere. Pet allergens are even in homes and other places that have never housed pets. This is because people can carry pet allergens on their clothing. Also, allergens can get into the air when an animal is petted or groomed. Pet allergens can also be stirred into the air where the allergens have settled. This can happen during dusting, vacuuming or other household activities. Once airborne, the particles can stay suspended in the air for long periods.
The Allergy Agent Responsible
Next to the allergen itself, it is the pet owners weak immune system that worsens the situation. When the body meets the allergen, the body releases histamines to fight off the thought-so deadly cell. The result eventually is coughing, nasal congestion, chest stiffening and difficulty breathing.
It is observed that people who are allergic to pets will be allergic to the pets hair as well due to the protein cells that can get transferred from its urine, saliva, or blood. Thus, if there is a pet in the area, chances are that there may be allergens in there-be it a room, the air and on the furniture.
Now coming back to the real question.
Understanding The Sneeze Threshold
The common knee-jerk reaction from health care professionals is to get rid of the pet. That is not going to happen for most pet lovers. The truth is, the allergens shed from pets tend to be sticky and stay in the environment long after a pet has left the premises so giving the puppy away wont offer a night and day cure.
Also, since many pet-allergic people also react to other things, it may be possible to reduce the allergy threshold so that they have less reaction.
Picture an empty glass representing NO allergens and no reaction. As you add things like pollen and dust to the container, the glass fills up. Once it reaches the sneeze threshold you react with allergy symptoms.
Everyone has a different threshold, though, with some folks able to tolerate one amount of exposure while others are more sensitive . But if you can reduce the number of allergens in your glass, that may drop the level to a tolerable level so that you react less to your pet. Perhaps you react to puppy dander, grass pollen and dust mites and the three combined fill up your allergy glass. If you can have someone else dust the house or use other techniques to reduce pollen, that may drop the allergen level in your glass below your sneeze threshold.
Tips To Reduce Pet Allergies
Lyuba Burakova / Stocksy United
Spring means allergy season is here, and allergies to pets can be a big problem for pet lovers. Hot weather games may be fun or may mean more time spent indoors avoiding sunburn for both people and pets. Its also the time of year for pollen, mold, and dust, so allergy sufferers double up the dose of misery. Even if you arent directly allergic to your cat or dog, they act like furry dust mops that trap and hold allergens that may set you off.
Can Cat Allergies Develop During Adulthood
Yes! Adult-onset allergies do occur. The reasons why people who have never experienced allergic reactions to dogs or cats and suddenly seem to be affected by them are unknown. Since allergies to pet dander are related to an over-reactive immune system, late-onset allergies may be related to aging, increased exposure, or environmental changes. As cats and dogs themselves age, they produce an increasing volume of dander, so the cause might be on the humans side or the pets.
There is also the phenomenon I experienced when I visited home during breaks from school, which is colloquially known as the Thanksgiving Effect. In this scenario, people who have lived their entire lives around pets and move away for an extended period of time, return to find themselves affected by allergens that did not affect them before. The idea is that prolonged early-life exposure to pet dander builds up a tolerance to it. Sudden, concentrated reintroduction to the allergens then provokes an extreme response from the immune system.
Veterinary Assistance For Assessing Allergies
See your veterinarian if you are worried that your pooch may be suffering from allergies to cats . He or she will likely verify that the symptoms are consistent with allergies, and not, for example, fleas, ticks, lice, other insect bites, ringworm, respiratory infections, or other afflictions that may mimic allergies.
After verifying that your pet is suffering from allergies, your vet will likely want to establish the cause of the allergies. He or she will want to find out whether the affliction is being caused by cat dander, pollen, or any number of other possible causes.
To do so, your vet will investigate the problem in the same way a human allergy specialist would.
Using a small needle, the vet will insert a small quantity of a common allergen into your dogs skin. The vet will then repeat this process with several other common allergens and a sterile control needle.
A short while later, the vet will have you bring your pet back into the office, where he or she will re-examine the area.Most of the needle pricks will not exhibit any inflammation or redness, and will be well on their way to healing, if they havent done so already.
Blood tests are also available to help identify your dogs allergens. However, these tests are rarely as accurate as intradermal tests are.
How To Determine If Your Cat Is Allergic To Dogs
If your cat is allergic to something, it will be pretty noticeable. The most prevalent clinical sign of allergies in pets is itching, says Dr. Jeffrey. Allergic animals will scratch their skin until they lose fur and cause trauma to the skin.
This may lead to overgrowth of yeast and bacteria, resulting in an infection, she says. These skin infections can look like crusts on the skin, excoriations, scales, papules, pustules as well as generally pink/red skin.
You may also notice that your cat is pulling out his hair, has runny eyes, is sneezing or has red plaques associated with eosinophilic granuloma complex, says Dr. Falk.
To be certain that what youre seeing in your cat is an allergic reaction to your dog and not an allergy to something else, Owners can pursue blood testing and/or skin testing like that done for humans, says Dr. Jeffrey.
While not a common occurrence, cats can be allergic to dogs. If you suspect your cat is allergic to your dog or other allergens, take him to the veterinarian for diagnosis and, if necessary, allergy testing. Theres not much you can do to prevent the onset of allergies, but you can work with your veterinarian to treat them and keep your cat as symptom-free as possible.
Caring For A Dog With Food Allergies
Just like humans, dogs can develop allergies at any time, even if theyve never had an allergic reaction before. The longer your pet is exposed to an allergen, the more intense their allergic responses can be. So, it is crucial to identify and eliminate your dogs allergens as soon as you notice signs of discomfort. While allergies can never be cured, you can eliminate the symptoms by removing the allergen from their diet.
Your vet will want to conduct a complete examination to rule out other conditions. They may also order skin and blood tests, though there is not one definitive food allergy test. If your vet suspects a food allergy, they will likely ask you to conduct a food trial that typically lasts 6-8 weeks, though more time may be needed depending on your dogs diet and symptoms.
Can Your Pet Be Allergic To Humans
28 July 2015
Allergies to pets are the second most important cause of allergies in UK home according to the charity Allergy UK. Half of asthmatic children are allergic to cats and 40% allergic to dogs. But the converse is also true – just like people, pets can also show allergic symptoms and can even be allergic to humans. Although rarely life threatening, allergies in pets cause discomfort and distress.
Just like people, dogs and cats can show allergic symptoms when their immune systems begin to recognise certain everyday substances or allergens as dangerous. Even though these allergens are common in most environments and harmless to most animals, pets with allergies will have an extreme reaction to them. Allergens can be problematic when inhaled, ingested or in contact with the pets skin. As the body tries to rid itself of these substances, a variety of skin, digestive and respiratory symptoms may appear.
How To Treat A Cat Already Experiencing Allergies
If your cat is already experiencing allergies caused by your dogs build-up of pollen or another airborne allergy, they may need or find relief from medicine provided by your vet professional. It is important to get your trusted professionals diagnosis because there could be multiple explanations for any itching or other symptoms that your feline is experiencing. For example, it is possible for your cat to have lice or another means, such as a parasite.
Once the diagnosis is confirmed, it will be time to take action. Your vet may recommend a medicine such as cortisol or another type of cream that helps your cat find relief. Although cats are known to shy away from water, certain solutions such as those that use oats may be so soothing to your cats skin that they actually stay in the solution to feel relief.
Can Pet Allergies Start Out Of Nowhere
Almost any allergy can begin during any point in a persons life. If you get new allergies in adulthood, these are referred to as adult allergies. Adult allergies can include pet allergies, food allergies and pollen allergies. It is possible to own a dog or a cat for years and then wake up one day having symptoms from their dander.
Can Pets Be Allergic To Food
It often comes as a surprise to some pet parents that their four-legged friends can also suffer from food allergies. However, hypersensitivity to food can develop in any breed at any age, even to something your cat or dog has eaten for years. It often takes some detective work to find out what substance is causing your pet allergy.
The most common food allergens for pets include: beef, chicken, dairy, and wheat. Cat and dog food allergy symptoms are similar. They will typically have itchy skin, chronic ear infections or sometimes gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea and vomiting. An elimination diet can be used to determine what food your cat or dog has an allergy to.
Seasonal Allergy In Dogs
Furry family members can also spend the spring season feeling miserable thanks to pollens and other environmental allergens, especially dogs. Season allergy in dogs is commonly caused by such environmental allergens as dust mites, fleas, molds and pollens from grasses, trees, weeds, and flowers. Pay close attention to your dogs belly, paws, ears, face, and armpit region. If your dog is constantly licking, that could be one of your dogs allergic reaction symptoms.
If your dog has allergies, their skin will become very itchy. It can start licking or scratching excessively and might bite or chew at certain areas of its body. It may rub itself against vertical surfaces like furniture or scoot across the floor. As the itch-scratch cycle continues, its skin may become inflamed. Hot spots can develop that can eventually lead to bleeding or hair loss.